The overall objective of this component is to provide national and international leadership in education for the next generation of researchers, to provide a dissemination and outreach plan for the results of the research, and to intensify recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities. The specific aims in training include the following: 1) support and mentor 5.25 predoctoral Research Assistants and 9 Postdoctoral Fellows each year; 2) support 10 participants in the NIGMS-supported Summer Institute for Statistics and Modeling in Infectious Diseases each summer (U Washington); 3) support an annual publication workshop with the group considered to have made the most progress toward a publication to augment the NIGMS supported International Clinics on Infectious Disease Dynamics and Data (ICI3D) Program (PI: J. Pulliam, U Florida) that aims to build capacity in epidemiological modeling in the US and Africa; 4) support an additional three students in the NSF-supported Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of Georgia on Population Biology of Infectious Diseases (PI: J. Drake, U Georgia); 5) support one additional student to focus on infectious disease methods in Summer Undergraduate Research Program at FHCRC; 6) offer competitive Career Development Awards for junior faculty. One of the key faculty (R. Antia, Emory U) teaches monks each year overseas as part of the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative. The MIDAS Center has a comprehensive plan for dissemination of the results and software and outreach to different constituencies. The dissemination plan includes the website and workshops. The Center's website will serve two purposes: i) a restricted-access section will facilitate transfer of knowledge and results within the center's members, and ii) a public-access section will be set up in order to communicate our results to both specialist and general audiences. Workshops will provide outreach to select members of the public health policymaking community to ensure that policymakers are sufficiently familiar with the methods of the substantive modelers so that they can use their analyses effectively. The Center is committed to increasing diversity in the areas of the mission of the Center.